FEATURE In interviews, articles, and his travel book, Kjersmeier expresses having been severely tested by the experience, not in the least through impatience 118 in his frequent and often unsuccessful attempts to locate and acquire art objects. In a moment of success he was photographed near Sikasso holding one of the dance crests he collected (fi g. 28). An inscription written on the back of the original photo in black ink reads, “A great fi nd in a Bamana village,” along with the location, “Diegoumina.” Unfortunately, it is not entirely clear specifi cally which dance crest appears in this photo; however, it may be one now in the collection of the Nationalmuseet (fi g. 18). Another fi eld identifi cation likely can be made for the dance crest illustrated here as fi gure 3 (upper left corner). The similarity between this dance crest and the one worn by a dancer captured in photographs by Kjersmeier (fi gs. 26 and 31) is unquestionable, and the chance of its being this object is increased by the fact that the collector certainly would have attempted to acquire it. Kjersmeier discusses the care he took in taking notes about each purchased object, as well as his excitement when new acquisitions occurred.35 Despite extensive searches of his archive, this information cannot be located nor can records relating to his fi eld photographs. What does survive are Kjersmeier’s handwritten lists enumerating objects intended for a short-term “welcome home” exhibition at the Nationalmuseet in 1932, where approximately one-third of the objects he collected on the trip were to be shown to the Danish public. Twenty dance crests are listed, but which ones they are cannot be determined. After this, he made object records on index cards, and the twenty-two dance crests now in the Nationamuseet can be matched to these.36 In addition to this, an unknown but likely small number of dance crests are described in handwritten notes signed by Kjersmeier that either have accompanied the objects or are attached to them (fi g. 12), but again, they cannot always be matched with specifi c objects. In some cases, the fi eld provenance seems to have been passed on to the next owner of the object. According to Kjersmeier, dance crests with small human fi gures occurred only rarely and, in FIG. 25 (above): Map showing the areas in French West Africa visited by the Kjersmeiers. From Kjersmeier, 1932b.
T82E
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